Three Ruthless Ones was released on December 19th, 1963. Written and directed by Joaquin L. Romero Marchent (Jesús Navarro Carrión and Rafael Romero Marchent also helped with the script) it stars Richard Harrison, Robert Hundar and Miguel Palenzuela as three brothers who are determined to avenge their father, murdered when they were still just children.
Released before A Fistful of Dollars revolutionized the Spaghetti western genre, Three Ruthless Ones has more in common with American westerns then its later Italian counterparts (it even features a singing cowboy!). Though the plot centers around vengeance, probably the most common plot in the spaghetti western genre (though there are no shortage of American westerns which also use it), the film condemns this pursuit where many spaghettis would either treat it with ambiguity or, in some cases, glorify it.
The central conflict of the film is between the oldest brother Chet (Robert Hundar) and the youngest brother Jeff (Richard Harrison). The fiery Chet is consumed with his desire for vengeance and is willing to do anything to get it while the more kind hearted Jeff is determined to abide by the law and see that the killers are brought to a fair trial and hung for their crimes. The pragmatic, level headed middle brother Brad (Miguel Palenzuela) is stuck in the middle, willing to follow the law to a certain extent but recognizing that it has limits. The two older brothers are influenced by their bitter mother (Gloria Milland) who has made them swear, on their father's grave, that they will avenge him.
The main cast is fairly solid and the characters are all well drawn. With his handsome face and impassioned delivery, Richard Harrison is well cast as the forthright Jeff Walker. He is equally determined to bring his father's killers to justice and to abide by the letter of the law. This brings him into conflict with his family and later with his girl Susannah (Gloria Osuna) who, it turns out, is the daughter of the man who killed his father. Chet is the antithesis of Jeff. He is cynical, moody and consumed with his need for revenge and Robert Hundar does a fine job in the role, alternating between an angry scowl and a malicious grin through most of the film. His best scene occurs about halfway through, when Chet, on the run from the law, almost murders a man who tries to stop him from stealing his horse, only to be dissuaded by the sight of his wife and child. Miguel Palenzuela certainly has the least intriguing material to work with as the dependable, level-headed Brad Walker. Like Chet, Brad has a cruel streak, but it is softened by his wife May (Dina Loy) who, in a scene that could be culled from a hundred other westerns, pleads with him to forego his vengeance when Chet discovers the whereabouts of their father's killer. But "there are things that a man can never forget."
Louise Walker, the boys' mother, is a women almost overcome by bitterness, the poison of which has infected her sons. Gloria Milland, though young for the role (she was only 24 at the time of the films release) puts in a really strong performance, particularly during the tragic ending scene where she breaks down and weeps over the body of her slain son, realizing too late what her desire for vengeance has brought him to. Fernando Sancho, a familiar face to any fan of the genre, imbues the film with some much needed warmth and humor as the wandering Mexican Pedro Ramirez, who hires himself on as the family's cook and is later deputized by Jeff to help him clean up the town where his father's killers reside. He is often a voice of reason and, though he himself has experienced tragedy in his past, urges Louise to let go of her hatred before it destroys her.
Joaquin L. Romero Marchent's direction is efficient if somewhat undistinguished. His framing is always on point and he handles both the action and the more intimate scenes with equal dexterity. The sensitive script juggles its rather large cast of characters admirably (it also features Francisco Sanz, Gloria Osuna, and Freddie Toehl in small but memorable roles). The film sags in the second act where the it becomes is out with scenes from a rodeo, which are impressively mounted but hardly relevant to the plot. The score, by the usually reliable Riz Ortolani is memorable in its own right but, at times, obtrusively upbeat for the context of the film, especially during the climax.
Though not without its flaws Three Ruthless Ones is a well made western with an unusually emotional story line.
Score: 8/10
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